A CHURCH will be closed this Easter for the first time in its history after thieves stole two war memorial plaques.

The plaques, commemorating soldiers who died in both world wars, were taken from St Mary’s The Mount in Walsall, Staffs.

The Rev Canon Peter Taylor decided to shut the gates this weekend, saying: “I have had the church open every day for 42 years, but I have to close it now unless there is a service because people come in and pinch things.”

The plaques, measuring 15ins by 18ins, were torn from a wall where they had been mounted either side of a marble crucifix.

Canon Taylor went on: “We just feel it’s stooping as low as you can get. Metal plaques won’t be going up there again.

“We will replace them with some other material, but not something that will catch the eye of someone who will make money out of it.”

The police come around now and again, but can’t be here all the time

Canon Taylor

Parishioner Jack Kelly, 28, said: “To think the doors will be closed to worship at a time like Easter because of theft is incredible.

“It’s not even that the plaques are worth anything, it’s more that these people are stealing from a church and dishonouring the memory of our war dead.

“It’s very sad a Christian church will not be able to open its doors to celebrate Easter.”

One of the plaques bore the name of John Henry Carless, the only member of the armed forces from Walsall to have been awarded the Victoria Cross. The First World War sailor died aged 21 and was honoured for his bravery in a battle off the coast of Germany in 1917.

The theft comes six weeks after a man smashed his way through the shutters of a store and stole rosaries. Canon Taylor said that the break-in had caused about £1,000-worth of damage.

He recalled: “I was in another room of the church at the time and I thought the church was caving in – it was a terrific bang.”

He said there was a “huge” problem with people taking drugs in the cemetery, adding: “The police come around now and again, but can’t be here all the time.”

The Daily Express has campaigned against metal theft in its crusade, Shop The Vile Vandals.

Almost one in five of the nation’s historic buildings and monuments – about 70,000 sites – was damaged by crimes including vandalism and metal theft last year, says English Heritage.

Other crimes listed include graffiti, arson, illicit metal-detecting – or “nighthawking” – from battlefields and historic grounds, and thefts from shipwrecks.

About £250,000 of damage was done to the Grade II-listed home of 19th-century novelist Elizabeth Gaskell in Manchester when thieves took lead from its roof.

York Minster had four bronze plaques torn from their mountings and Clifford’s Tower in York, a stone keep dating from 1068, was vandalised by a graffiti artist, who was later jailed.